#61: World Famous

My no-bake chocolate cookies are world famous. Or at least I'd like to think so! I make these cookies every winter, and only in the winter, and you'll see why. All of my friends know me for these cookies and they are frequently requested during the holidays (although I gladly make them well into March).

You've seen my amazing wit and clever writing here, here and here. And you've seen my love for everything diamonds and shoes here and here. And my love for J here and here. So now I introduce to my love of (non) baking. Here we go!

Step 1: Get mom's completely handwritten cookbook off the shelf. I really gotta get me one of these. Maybe my mom has time to write out all the recipes between now and June? I doubt it. I may just have to resort to photocopying every page (we use a lot of the recipes in the book regularly). I asked my mom where this recipe came from and she said she was pretty sure she got it from her mom. Awesome.

 Step 2: Turn to the first page under "cookies." It's (very appropriately) the first recipe. I love my mom's handwriting. (Feel free to enlarge the picture and copy the recipe. I can tell you though, without a doubt, you will screw up the first time. I promise. So buy extra ingredients.

Step 3: Gather all necessary ingredients. Pretty basic stuff: milk (yes, I drink skim milk), oatmeal (NOT instant oats), cocoa powder, coconut, butter, sugar, vanilla extract and pecans. This is not a nut-optional recipe, they must be included (it helps to keep everything together).

Step 4: Gather all necessary measuring cups/spoons.

Step 5: Put milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan. I cut up the butter (since it was rock hard from the fridge) to help it melt faster.

Step 6: Start measuring out the rest of the ingredients. And if you're cool like me, you give the counter a little love too.

Step 7: Get a little monster in the kitchen. A very, very rambunctious monster. I asked him to stop running around and smile for me. This is what I got:

Step 8: Get all the dry ingredients measured out and ready to go. You'll see why later.

Step 9: Since you're about to turn the stove on (for the milk, sugar and butter mixture), make sure little monster stays out of the way. In our house, this means the boys aren't allowed on the rug (the other end hits right at the stove). Here, Grammy is instructing little monster where he can sit.

Step 10: Turn on the stove. I usually keep it up pretty high until the butter melts, then turn it to medium-low (4).

Step 11: Line two cookie sheets with wax paper. Set aside. Put on to of clean dishes in the sink if you live in a house with eight people and there is no counter space.

Step 12: Uh-oh. Grammy's on the rug. And it's not allowed. Let's lift her butt and get it off the rug.

Step 13: While you're waiting for the delicious, sugary mixture to come to a full boil, admire your new green sweater dress you mentioned here and the new boots you just bought for $20 off. You mentioned them here.

Step 14: This is what a full boil looks like. It needs to look like this for about a minute in order for the sugar to fully dissolve. This is a MUST. It affects how the cookies will turn out.

Step 15: Turn off stove and move the saucepan to a solid surface. I put my on a hot pad on the counter, so it won't slide around. Mix in cocoa and vanilla extract. Take a cool action shot.

Step 16: Mix in the rest of the ingredients. I usually do coconut first, then oatmeal, then pecans. Make sure you chop up the pecans pretty small. Admire the deliciousness. But work quickly because once this loses heat, it'll start to clump together.

Step 17: Scoop the mixture with two spoons and place onto the cookie sheet. Make the cookies as small or as large as you want. Since I made these for a party, I made them pretty small, so they'll go farther. I got 50 cookies from one batch.

Step 18: Admire your handiwork. And then put the cookies in the car. Not kidding. Or you can put them in the fridge. I think it's more fun to put them in the car, which is why I only make them when they're cold (snow not necessary, but was present this time). They need to be out there (or in the fridge if you're boring) for a couple of hours.

I started a second batch right after I put these in the car. That one went a lot faster. It's amazing how taking pictures of every step really slows you down.

I hope you liked my play-by-play. And by the way, the cookies turned out great...I had to try a few :) Let me know if you try this recipe! Some people have made similar cookies with peanut butter, but I'm not a fan of those. I've eaten these cookies every year for as long as I can remember! Let me know what you think! What's your favorite holiday cookie?